NFL Week 2 Preview: Arizona Cardinals vs New York Giants

On Sunday, September 14, the New York Giants will host the Arizona Cardinals in a week two match up.

The two teams both played in separate games on week one’s installment of Monday Night Football, but the teams had opposite outcomes. New York played in the first game and got destroyed by the Detroit Lions in a 35-14 loss. Arizona would host the San Diego Chargers in the second game, and would win the game 18-17.

The last regular season meeting of these two teams came in 2011 when the Giants made a ferocious fourth quarter comeback to win 31-27. Eli Manning orchestrated the come-from-behind victory, as was the norm for Big Blue in 2011.

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Following the aforementioned loss to Detroit, things don’t get much easier for the Giants this week. A week after getting torched by Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson in Detroit, the Giants have to deal with the prolific passing attack of Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald.

Once again, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie will be tasked with guarding the number one receiver, as he will be covering perennial Pro Bowler Larry Fitzgerald. DRC didn’t do too bad against Johnson when he didn’t try and press the talented receiver. If DRC tries to play press coverage against Fitzgerald the result will likely be the same. Despite his unearthly talents, Fitzgerald didn’t see too many targets on Monday night. This  led to his dad, yes his dad, making some controversial statements.

Now, just because Mr. Fitzgerald was upset with the lack of targets for his son doesn’t mean Larry is going to be the only player Carson Palmer targets against the Giants. It also doesn’t mean he won’t be a complete non factor, though. Against the Chargers, Arizona didn’t look Fitzgerald’s way too often, as his first catch came in the fourth quarter. He’s still one of the best receivers in football, but if DRC is playing Fitzgerald well the whole game, look for Michael Floyd and John Brown to be fully utilized.

Floyd and Brown aren’t quite household names yet, but there’s a reason the Cardinals felt comfortable not throwing to Fitzgerald on Monday. Floyd had a breakout year in 2013, recording 1,041 yards. Floyd would also lead all Cardinals in receiving against the Chargers with 119 yards. Brown, a rookie out of Pittsburgh State, is an absolutely electric player, and he’s gotten a whole lot of praise from his coaching staff. The trio of Fitzgerald, Floyd and Brown will test the Giants secondary for a second straight week.

In regards to last week, we all saw the Giants get destroyed by the Lions, and the secondary looked amateurish at times. However, if you eliminate the two biggest plays for Detroit, the Giants didn’t play that poorly. Both plays, the 67 yard touchdown to Calvin Johnson and the 44 yard pass to Golden Tate, were the result of blown coverage. Furthermore, both plays came on a pivotal third down. If the two plays were eradicated from not blowing coverage, the Giants would’ve held the Stafford led Lions to 235 yards. Obviously that wasn’t the case, and the Giants simply cannot afford to make those kind of mental errors if they want to have a chance.

“He had been in the same system pretty much nine years and he has ideas, then you are trying to re-program. It is much easier getting a rookie and brainwashing him than it is to take a veteran and change him totally into a new system

The Giants starting defensive lineup needs to get used to playing with each other, and a week under their belts should help. The returning Jon Beason helped the unit hold ultra talented Reggie Bush to a pedestrian 15 yards rushing, and his backup Joique Bell to 51 yards.

Despite some early concern, Cardinals’ running back Andre Ellington is healthy and ready to go, which is only good news for Arizona. Ellington is a player that has a similar skill set to Bush, mostly because he’s such a good receiver. Many have predicted a breakout year for Ellington, so it will be interesting to see what he can do against a good New York run defense.

Defensively for Arizona, the unit surprised many when they held the Chargers offense to a mere 17 points.

After losing Karlos Dansby to free agency, Daryl Washington to suspension and Darnell Dockett to injury, many speculated the Cardinals would take a big step back on defense. While the reason for concern was justifiable, the unit looked as stifling as ever on Monday. According to nfl.com, Arizona even has the league’s best defense.

Against a sloppy New York offense, the Cardinals’ defense should have another good outing on Sunday. Just in case you haven’t heard, the new look offense implemented by Ben McAdoo isn’t getting compared to the 2007 Patriots.

The Giants seem like a team that is broken on offense, and it doesn’t look like the unit will be fixed anytime soon. Eli Manning doesn’t seem comfortable in the new offensive system, as he seems to be confused with the hand signals. Manning played very poorly against Detroit, and he made some terrible throws throughout the game.

Cardinals’ head coach Bruce Arians told the media that he predicts the hardships to continue. “I did this with Carson Palmer last year,” Arians said Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News.

“He had been in the same system pretty much nine years and he has ideas, then you are trying to re-program. It is much easier getting a rookie and brainwashing him than it is to take a veteran and change him totally into a new system. I try to never judge a quarterback in a new offense until Week 8.”

If you remember correctly, Palmer’s play was less than desirable last year until week 8 of the season. Ironically enough, the Giants’ season was over by week 8 last year.

If the Giants want to be even remotely successful on offense, two things need to happen. First, they need to get the run game even somewhat established. Second, Eli Manning needs to get into a rhythm early on with early completions to Rueben Randle and Victor Cruz.

Sound familiar? If it does, it’s because those are the exact same things I said the offense needed to do to be successful against the Lions. If Manning and the offense can’t get much established early, the offense will likely struggle for a second consecutive week.

Victor Cruz has voiced his frustrations about the new offense, and he just wants the damn ball. However, the offense has its work cut out for them, as they’re playing against a great secondary led by Patrick Peterson, one of the league’s best cover corners. Peterson doesn’t usually stay on one side of the field, so he will likely be shadowing Cruz for the majority of the game. Peterson’s presence will axiomatically limit Cruz’s opportunities. Don’t be shocked if Manning just doesn’t throw in the direction of Peterson. Antonio Cromartie plays opposite Peterson, and he’s also a hand full for offenses to deal with as well. Furthermore, although they kept him out of Monday’s game, the Cardinals will likely have dynamic safety Tyrann Mathieu back in the secondary, which only makes the unit scarier.

Perhaps the lone silver lining for the offense is that tight end Larry Donnell actually proved he can play in a real NFL game. A litany of people thought Donnell wouldn’t be sufficient, but the young tight end led all Giants with 56 receiving yards in week one. I’m sure Eli feels a lot more comfortable knowing he can trust his tight end to make catches. If Donnell has another good performance, it would help the offense immensely. Arizona gave up 81 yards to Chargers’ tight end Antonio Gates last week. Donnell, however, was one of the culprits for an Eli interception.

It’s very hard to find any real positives in this shambled offense.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, they will be without pass rusher John Abraham. Abraham took a leave of absence from the team due to a concussion, and his career is likely over.

The starting five linemen for the Giants had a very tough time dealing with the Lions’ defensive front. Unfortunately, the Giants still have to deal with the league’s most underrated defensive end, Calais Campbell. Giving Manning time to made his reads is of paramount importance. If the offensive line can’t find success and the Giants are forced to play from behind early on, it will likely be a long day in MetLife Stadium for the home team.

Players to Watch:

Jason Pierre-Paul:

Against the Lions, Pierre-Paul looked astronomically better than he has over the past two years, despite not recording any sacks. JPP should be able to build on a solid week one outing.

Tyrann Mathieu:

The Honey Badger will likely be back for this game after missing week one. Mathieu is an incredibly talented ball hawking safety. If Mathieu plays on Sunday it will mark his first regular season action since tearing his ACL and LCL last year.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: After getting toasted by the league’s best wide out, it will be interesting to see how DRC responds. Corners usually have a short memory, and we’ll see if Rodgers-Cromartie can bounce back.

John Brown:

With Fitzgerald garnering so much attention, it should free up rookie John Brown. Brown will likely be matched up against Walter Thurmond III, and that will be a great matchup in the slot to keep an eye on.

Final Prediction:

Cardinals win 28-17. Unless the Giants’ offense made tremendous progress over the course of the week, I don’t see them contending with the Cardinals’ stingy defense. Once again, I think Eli will struggle, especially against such a good secondary. Carson Palmer and the defense should have a good day, which will ultimately propel the Cardinals to 2-0. The only way I see the Giants having a chance in this one is if the defense plays lights out football and doesn’t make big mistakes. That’s likely the only way the offense will have a chance.